If you are currently struggling with criminal charges, then you do not have a moment to lose. The penalties that can arise from charges of this nature are serious and can have extreme consequences; they are not something to be trifled with or treated lightly. If you are facing a charge such as a DWI and are concerned about the penalties, then the best thing that you can do for yourself is to seek legal counsel from a Dallas criminal defense attorney who can provide hard-hitting and tenacious legal guidance when you need it most.

Types of Criminal Offenses

Child Abuse

Child abuse is an act or omission that endangers or impairs a child's physical, mental or emotional health and development. Child abuse may take the form of physical or emotional injury, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, physical neglect, medical neglect, or inadequate supervision.

Domestic Violence

In Texas, courts use the word Family Violence when addressing issues associated with domestic violence. The legal definition of family violence is defined in the family code as " an act by a member of a family or household against another member of the family or household that is intended to result in physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault or that is a threat that reasonably places the member in fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault, but does not include defensive measures to protect oneself." When a person commits an illegal act of domestic violence, law enforcement can become involved.

Drug Crimes

Drug possession is a serious criminal charge in Texas carrying a wide range of punishments from probation to lengthy prison sentences, depending on the amount of the drug. If you are charged under the possession law, it means the state has accused you of carrying or having access to a controlled substance such as marijuana, cocaine, or Ecstasy.

DWI

DWI charges have the potential to be very serious due to the harsh penalties imposed in Texas. Whether the case involves a first offense, underage DWI, or felony DWI, it is important to seek legal counsel as soon as possible.

Harassing Phone Calls

Harassment is a misdemeanor offense in which one person is accused of purposely annoying another person, usually by phone or e-mail. If the case involves threats of violence, the charge can become stalking, a felony.

Illegal Search and Seizure

The Fourth Amendment (Amendment IV) is an amendment to the United States Constitution and part of the Bill of Rights. It prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and requires any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. It was adopted in response to the abuse of the writ of assistance, a type of general search warrant issued by the British Government and a major source of tension in pre-Revolutionary America. The Fourth Amendment was introduced in Congress in 1789 by James Madison, along with the other amendments in the Bill of Rights, in response to Anti-Federalist objections to the new Constitution. Congress proposed the amendment to the states on September 28, 1789, and by December 15, 1791, the necessary three-quarters of the states had ratified it. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson announced the adoption of the amendment on March 1, 1792.

Internet Crimes

Offences that are committed against individuals or groups of individuals with a criminal motive to intentionally harm the reputation of the victim or cause physical or mental harm to the victim directly or indirectly, using modern telecommunication networks such as Internet (Chat rooms, emails, notice boards and groups) and mobile phones (SMS/MMS)".[4] Such crimes may threaten a nation's security and financial health.[5] Issues surrounding these types of crimes have become high-profile, particularly those surrounding cracking, copyright infringement, child pornography, and child grooming. There are also problems of privacy when confidential information is lost or intercepted, lawfully or otherwise.

Juvenile Crimes

Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, or youth crime, is participation in illegal behavior by minors (juveniles) (individuals younger than the statutory age of majority).[1] Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers, and courts. A juvenile delinquent is a person who is typically under the age of 18 and commits an act that otherwise would have been charged as a crime if they were an adult. Depending on the type and severity of the offense committed, it is possible for persons under 18 to be charged and tried as adults.

Nonpayment of Child Support

In family law and public policy, child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child following the end of a marriage or other relationship. Child maintenance is paid directly or indirectly by an obligor to an obligee for the care and support of children of a relationship that has been terminated, or in some cases never existed. Often the obligor is a non-custodial parent. The obligee is typically a custodial parent, a caregiver, a guardian, or the state.

Obstruction of Justice

The crime of obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, refers to the crime of interfering with the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other (usually government) officials. Common law jurisdictions other than the United States tend to use the wider offense of perverting the course of justice.

Parole Violation Hearings

Once the offender is detained and Parole Division decides on a hearing, the offender is interviewed by a parole officer. The offender is advised of their rights in the revocation hearing process to:

be personally served with written notice of alleged parole violations, a preliminary hearing unless the offender is accused only of administrative violations or has been convicted of a new criminal offense. The purpose of this hearing is to determine if there is probable cause to believe a condition of release was violated. In some cases, the offender may choose to waive the preliminary hearing, a revocation hearing if the offender is alleged to have committed administrative violations or has been found guilty in a criminal case, full disclosure of all the evidence against the offender before the hearing, hire an attorney and, under certain circumstances, the conditional right to a state-appointed attorney, tell the hearing officer in person what happened and to present evidence, affidavits, letters, and documents to support their position, including the right to subpoena witnesses through the parole officer, confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses (unless the hearing officer finds good cause to deny confrontation), be heard on the allegations by someone designated by the Board.

If parole or mandatory supervision is revoked as a result of the hearing, the offender receives a written report by the hearing officer which describes the evidence relied upon in finding a violation. In certain cases, the offender may petition the Board to reopen the revocation hearing.

An offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer. During this testing period, an offender faces the threat of being sent back to prison, if found breaking the rules.

Resisting Arrest

A person commits an offense if he intentionally prevents or obstructs a person he knows is a peace officer or a person acting in a peace officer's presence and at his direction from effecting an arrest, search, or transportation of the actor or another by using force against the peace officer or another.

(b) It is no defense to prosecution under this section that the arrest or search was unlawful.

(c) Except as provided in Subsection (d), an offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.

(d) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree if the actor uses a deadly weapon to resist the arrest or search.

Terroristic Threat Crimes

(a) A person commits an offense if he threatens to commit any offense involving violence to any person or property with intent to: (1) cause a reaction of any type to his threat by an official or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies; (2) place any person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury; (3) prevent or interrupt the occupation or use of a building, room, place of assembly, place to which the public has access, place of employment or occupation, aircraft, automobile, or other form of conveyance, or other public place; (4) cause impairment or interruption of public communications, public transportation, public water, gas, or power supply or other public service; (5) place the public or a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury; or (6) influence the conduct or activities of a branch or agency of the federal government, the state, or a political subdivision of the state. A federal-level law in the United States prohibits threatening terrorism against the United States.

Theft Crimes

Theft is a broad criminal charge in Texas that includes a range of offenses from shoplifting and larceny to bouncing checks to buying stolen property. The punishments generally depend on the value of the stolen item, and can be as little as a fine or as serious as prison time in extreme cases.

The Texas Penal Code defines theft as taking someone else's property without consent, either by deception or by physically stealing it. You don't have to keep the property for it to be considered theft, but only long enough to deprive the owner of its value. And, if you take something, then return it for a reward, that is also theft under Texas law.

Sex Crimes

In general, laws proscribe acts which are considered either sexual abuse or behavior that societies consider to be inappropriate and against the social norms. In addition, certain categories of activity may be considered crimes even if freely consented to. Sex laws vary from place to place, and over time, and sexual acts which are prohibited by law in a jurisdiction are also called sex crimes.

Weapons and Gun Crimes

The state of Texas is considered to have some of the nation's most lenient gun laws. Public concerns over gun control in Texas have increased in recent years as Mexican drug cartels continue to commit violent crimes near the Texas border with Mexico. The debate over gun control laws generally produces three arguments: - Those that believe gun control laws are effective in reducing gun-related accidents and crime and should be enforced by the government. - Those that believe gun control laws are ineffective in reducing gun-related accidents and crime and thus support fewer gun control measures. - Those that believe that the private ownership of guns reduces crime.

White Collar Crimes

White-collar crime is financially motivated nonviolent crime committed for illegal monetary gain. Within criminology, it was first defined by sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation". Sutherland was a proponent of symbolic interactionism and believed that criminal behavior was learned from interpersonal interactions. White-collar crime is similar to corporate crime as white-collar employees are more likely to commit fraud, bribery, Ponzi schemes, insider trading, embezzlement, cybercrime, copyright infringement, money laundering, identity theft, and forgery.

Violent Crimes

A violent crime or crime of violence is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, as well as crimes in which violence is the means to an end, (including criminal ends) such as robbery. Violent crimes include crimes committed with weapons. With the exception of rape (which accounts for 6% of all reported violent crimes), males are the primary victims of all forms of violent crime.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.